Nick Friedell

The Medal Stand: Olympic mascots double as cartoon characters

Meet the Fuwa ... You will be seeing a lot of them over the next month. They are the official mascots for the Beijing Games, and have become popular figures in China ... they even have their own cartoon series ... (CCTV)

It looks like most of the Nike swooshes have been wiped away in Beijing ... (Shanghaiist)

Can you imagine getting all the way to China to see your child compete in the Olympics, and then not have a ticket to watch their event ... somebody has got to help out these parents ... (CTV)

Beijing taxi companies plan on providing eight language services during the Olympics ... something tells me this will not end well ... (People's Daily Online)

Not only is the Internet slow in the Media Village ... it also costs a lot of money ... (Slashdot)

USA Basketball team arrives in Macau ... Carmelo Anthony says he slept during the entire flight ... all the way from Vegas ... (AFP)